Jean-Clair Todibo makes his full Premier League debut as West Ham United go in search of a second Premier League win of the season at Brentford on Saturday afternoon.
The France international replaces Dinos Mavropanos at the heart of the defence as Julen Lopetegui makes three changes from the home defeat by Chelsea in the Hammers’ previous Premier League fixture.
Todibo was part of the stingiest defence in Ligue 1 last season, as Nice conceded just 29 goals in 34 matches on their way to finishing fifth in the table and qualifying for Europe.
Now, the 24-year-old is drafted in with the hope of shoring up a West Ham defence which has conceded 53 Premier League goals in 24 top-flight matches in 2024.
The other changes see Tomáš Souček and Michail Antonio return to the team, with the suspended Edson Álvarez absent and Crysencio Summerville dropping to the substitutes’ bench.
The Czech scored in West Ham’s only Premier League win this season, a 2-0 victory at Crystal Palace at the end of August, and will now hope to find the net against Brentford for the first time in what is his eighth appearance against the Bees.
The Hammers’ other scorer at Selhurst Park was Jarrod Bowen, who has notched five goals in six top-flight games against Brentford.
Alphonse Areola starts in goal, seeking his second clean sheet of the season and third of 2024, with a back four in front of him of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Todibo, Maximilian Kilman and Emerson.
Guido Rodríguez keeps his place, having been replaced before half-time against Chelsea last weekend, and will shield the defence. Lucas Paquetá completes the midfield.
Captain Bowen will play on one wing, with Mohammed Kudus, who scored a sensational scissor kick in West Ham’s 3-2 Premier League defeat at Brentford last season, on the other.
Antonio, who was born and raised in nearby Wandsworth, will lead the line on his return to the Premier League starting XI. The Hammers’ all-time record top-flight goalscorer is seeking his first goal on his sixth Premier League appearance against the Bees.
With Álvarez unavailable, the substitutes’ bench will be comprised of Mavropanos, Summerville, goalkeeper Łukasz Fabiański, full-backs Vladimír Coufal and Aaron Cresswell, midfielders Carlos Soler and Andy Irving, winger Luis Guilherme and striker Danny Ings.
Niclas Füllkrug remains absent with the lower leg injury he suffered while on international duty with Germany at the start of September.
Brentford: Flekken, Ajer, van den Berg, Pinnock, Collins, Lewis-Potter, Janelt ©, Damsgaard, Fábio Carvalho, Mbeumo, Schade
Subs: Vladimarsson (GK), Konak, Trevitt, Roerslev, Mee, Meghmoa, Ji-Soo, Yogane, Yarmoliuk
West Ham United: Areola, Wan-Bissaka, Todibo, Kilman, Emerson, Rodríguez, Souček, Paquetá, Bowen ©, Kudus, Antonio
Subs: Fabiański (GK), Coufal, Cresswell, Mavropanos, Soler, Irving, Luis Guilherme, Summerville, Ings
Referee: Simon Hooper
